Everyday Moms: Rotisserie Chicken Solutions

Posted by Amy Allen Clark

Rotisserie chickens can be a busy cook's best friend, offering an arsenal of dishes that can be prepared with simple pantry ingredients.

I love to buy these for a quick weeknight dinner to make a variety of dishes for our family. I dice the chicken to put in pasta salads, shred it for sandwich wraps, and make delicious paninis smeared with pesto sauce. Casseroles can be thrown together on the fly and these chickens have always come through for me for a fast potluck dish. The possibilities are endless with just this one ingredient!

One thing I hadn't tried, though, is to make barbecued chicken sandwiches out of the chicken. Our family was inspired by Everyday Food's Barbecued Chicken on Garlic Toast for a fun weeknight meal, and the dish couldn't be easier.

Tossing the chicken with a little barbecue sauce makes an instantly yummy sandwich that no one in our family could resist. The addition of garlic-rubbed toast helps to develop more flavor and adds another dimension. The toasted bread does a great job of soaking up the taste without the soggy bun and gives a bit of crunch. What a fast and easy way to get dinner on the table!

SEE THE RECIPE:
Barbecued Chicken on Garlic Toast

When I have more time to plan ahead, I love to make whole chickens in my slow cooker. Although they don't have the crispy and delicious skin like the rotisserie chicken, they do make a great substitute for being added into dishes as an ingredient. Best of all, they are an economical choice for families!

RECIPE: Slow-Cooker "Roasted" Chicken
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (approximately 3 pounds)

Directions
1. Wash chicken inside and out (removing anything inside). Sprinkle seasoning of your choice on the chicken (seasoning blends, salt, or pepper).

2. Put 3 balls of aluminum foil in the bottom of the slow cooker (this creates a rack so the chicken doesn't soak in its own juices). Place the chicken in, breast side down, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

This chicken works great for our family's favorite Chicken Pasta Caesar Salad and Chicken Lo Mein dishes -- they both are always crowd-pleasers in our home. Our Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein has been a great substitute for  takeout, and my Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is the perfect dish to take to family picnics. Both are very economical dishes and help to stretch the chicken to serve 6 to 8 people.

Amy Allen Clark is the Founder of momadvice.com. Amy resides in Indiana with her two children and husband. She can be found blogging regularly on The Mother Load about her adventures in eating, parenting, and managing her busy household.

Comments

[Becky]

Yum!! That sounds great. Thank you for the great ideas

[Sarah]

Great ideas Amy - I love to make a whole chicken in the crockpot, and it's wonderful to have additional ways to use the leftover chicken!

[Jill]

Mmmmmm - what great, simple ideas to use for everyday cooking. I always need new recipes that I can put on the table quickly and easily, Thanks for sharing some great ones!!

[Corri]

Amy, we love the quick meals for our family. Can't wait to try these new recipes!!

[melissa]

What great ideas Amy! I am always looking for new quick and easy meal ideas! Thanks so much! And we love BBQ too!

[lisa]

Thank you so much for this. We eat rotisserie chicken often, sometimes twice in a week. I can't wait to try:-)

[Alyssa @ Keeping the Kingdom First]

Amy, thank you so much for this! How did you know I need help with chicken? After not eating it for 17 years, I am battling a huge learning curve in the kitchen.

This was just what I needed!

[marlynn]

Amy, I LOVE the new ideas for rotisserie chicken. Thanks!

[Kelly Perry]

Amy, great article and how fun to see you featured here-i'm a momadvice regular so was very excited to see one of my favorite bloggers here!!!

[CaraM - TheHouseholdHelper]

Awesome tips Amy! I typically roast a chicken and plan on 2 or 3 meals from it every time! Just recently, we had roast chicken for dinner and later in the week we had chicken fajitas. The chicken is a frugal cooks best friend!

[Julie]

I've never used rotisserie chicken before--had never even really though to do so. Thanks for the awesome ideas--I'll definitely be looking into using rotisserie in my meal planning and putting a chicken in my slow-cooker, as well!

[Amy K]

Thanks Amy for the great ideas. I never thought about putting the balls of foil on the bottom of the slow cooker--will need to try that. I'm inspired to try a rotisserie chicken this week!

[Sally McEntire]

I love BBQ chicken, that sandwich sounds delish! And I'm totally going to cook a chicken in my crock pot now. Thanks Amy!

[Classy Mommy]

Awesome recipe. And I LOVE quick easy meals. I am not the domestic type and with a busy family I need easy meal solutions. Thanks!